Car season is definitely my favorite time of the year. For the first time in a great while, I had a Thursday night off. So I gathered up my lovely wife and my son, and we took the Lark to a classic car show and shine that goes on every Thursday in Ralston. We parked the car and before I could get out there were already three guys huddling around it. Apparently Studebakers don't make it to the show very often, so it was a special treat to these gentlemen.
One guy in the flock told me a story about the '62 Lark he learned to drive on, with a clutch so hard it nearly broke his foot. He was excited to see one that reminded him of his old car, and we started talking about how reliable Stude engines were. He wanted to see what I had, so I did something I never ever do at these things: I popped the hood and showed him. Despite my dirty-as-sin engine bay, he thought it was the coolest motor in the lot. (Indeed it was. Aside from a few Fords, just about every other motor that would be there was a "belly button" SBC. Most of them even had the same "racing" valve covers you can get at the auto part store on the shelf.)
After chatting with these guys a little, we realized we were famished. The lot was only just starting to gather cars, so we decided to head to the pasta place next to the show lot. Afterwards, I happened to hear a couple other guys talking as I was returning to the lot. The first guy had been there a while, and was telling the new guy who just showed up what to see. In his must see line-up, I heard him say "and you should check out the red and black Studebaker in the back row. It's pretty cool". There was another small herd of people looking at the car as I got back to it. I talked a little about the car, suggested this website, and went to see what else was there.
As fate had it, I bumped into a guy there with an old Dodge convertible who was looking to sell it off and buy a C/K without a drivetrain. I took his number and told him I'd keep an eye out. Then on the way home, at two different stoplights people asked me what kind of car I had.
I think the point of this story is that if you're not out there driving your Studebaker around, you're missing out. To me, this is the most fun of my life. It's not that I'm some egotistical attention-seeker, or that I think I own some fantastic show car. On the contrary, I usually call my car "the 24-footer", because "the 20-footer" is way too close. But whether your Studebaker is a 5 or a 2, it belongs out there, in the open air. (If it's a 6, you should probably get it running first.) There's something magic about bringing a Studebaker out. People notice, and you'd be surprised how many Studebaker fans are out there. We can talk about the cars all day, but the key to getting people interested is to get out there and drive them. So go out, hit the road, and have some fun!
One guy in the flock told me a story about the '62 Lark he learned to drive on, with a clutch so hard it nearly broke his foot. He was excited to see one that reminded him of his old car, and we started talking about how reliable Stude engines were. He wanted to see what I had, so I did something I never ever do at these things: I popped the hood and showed him. Despite my dirty-as-sin engine bay, he thought it was the coolest motor in the lot. (Indeed it was. Aside from a few Fords, just about every other motor that would be there was a "belly button" SBC. Most of them even had the same "racing" valve covers you can get at the auto part store on the shelf.)
After chatting with these guys a little, we realized we were famished. The lot was only just starting to gather cars, so we decided to head to the pasta place next to the show lot. Afterwards, I happened to hear a couple other guys talking as I was returning to the lot. The first guy had been there a while, and was telling the new guy who just showed up what to see. In his must see line-up, I heard him say "and you should check out the red and black Studebaker in the back row. It's pretty cool". There was another small herd of people looking at the car as I got back to it. I talked a little about the car, suggested this website, and went to see what else was there.
As fate had it, I bumped into a guy there with an old Dodge convertible who was looking to sell it off and buy a C/K without a drivetrain. I took his number and told him I'd keep an eye out. Then on the way home, at two different stoplights people asked me what kind of car I had.
I think the point of this story is that if you're not out there driving your Studebaker around, you're missing out. To me, this is the most fun of my life. It's not that I'm some egotistical attention-seeker, or that I think I own some fantastic show car. On the contrary, I usually call my car "the 24-footer", because "the 20-footer" is way too close. But whether your Studebaker is a 5 or a 2, it belongs out there, in the open air. (If it's a 6, you should probably get it running first.) There's something magic about bringing a Studebaker out. People notice, and you'd be surprised how many Studebaker fans are out there. We can talk about the cars all day, but the key to getting people interested is to get out there and drive them. So go out, hit the road, and have some fun!
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